Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 07, 2025 ...

Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

September 14, 2017, 11:59:21 am

It came with the coach when we bought her. Would work (driver's side front), then finally retract. All the others worked fine. Looked for leaks, nada. Brett suggested a 2X pad, worked fine, for a while.  Now it's up to its old tricks, again. Any clues where to start?
Anyone know of someone in Arizona who has done "jack work"?

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Re: Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

Reply #1 – September 14, 2017, 12:27:13 pm

You have HWH kick-down jacks.

If the jack is slowly "stowing" and no visible external leak, the likely culprit is the seal on the solenoid controlling the jack.

Could also be that one of the "T" handles to release jacks manually is slightly open.  Try that first.

HWH has a kit with enough seals to reseal all 4 jacks. 

Access is by removing the grill to get to the jack motor/reservoir/solenoids.

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Re: Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

Reply #2 – September 14, 2017, 03:33:43 pm

Are you trying to retract it or extend it. The picture shows the right jack extended down. If you are trying to retract it extend the right one some more and it will release the left one from the pad.

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Re: Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

Reply #3 – September 14, 2017, 04:36:35 pm

Yes it looks lo me that the front of the jack pad is catching the wood and cannot finish going into a vertical position before extending. With the jack vertical it would be 1 1/2" clear of ground so in this location no real need for that wood.
The jacks can be moved by hand, so push or pull it a bit back from the wood then let go of it and it should flip to vertical. You can then use control to extend it, but I would first 'stow" them and then extend normally. Also you should be spraying some oil every so often on those pins as could be a bit of crud just holding it back. Looks also that cylinder did not return fully last time it was used.
JohnH

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Re: Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

Reply #4 – September 14, 2017, 05:06:31 pm

Yup, my answer is if it is "self-retracting".

If this is a problem on deployment, let us know, as that is an entirely different issue (properly addressed  by two posts immediately above).

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Re: Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

Reply #5 – September 15, 2017, 03:27:16 pm

Yes, it has a mind of its own. After I took the pic posted earlier, I stored all the jacks and re-programmed the system to re-level. All is well, again. The console shows all is good, as well. Odd that the jack would take so long to try to retract (on it's own) without me wanting to move? I hate to start tearing into the "usual suspect" without knowing which way to turn. One good thing: It puts roadside drains on a better draining angle!

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Re: Problem with KWH fold- down jack.

Reply #6 – September 15, 2017, 03:37:02 pm

Again, if no external leaks, the solenoid seals are inexpensive from HWH and easy to install.

If you get them and they don't come with directions, let me know and I can dig up that info.

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